1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a new and improved servo controlled robot gripper. More specifically, a light weight, servo position and force controlled robot gripper is provided having interchangable fingers thereon to allow the gripper to be utilized for a variety of different tasks.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are many known robot grippers, most of which have been designed for various industrial purposes. Those grippers are typically pneumatic or hydraulically controlled and tend to be quite bulky and are, therefore, not suitable for attachment to many of the new light weight robots. Additionally, those grippers are not suitable for applications which require precise force and position control. The use of light weight, electronically activated grippers is also known. However, in the past, it was often necessary for a completely new gripper to be designed each time the performance of a slightly different task was required. For example, a robot gripper designed to place resistors in an electrical circuit could not be readily adapted to grasp or place transistors. There is, therefore, a need for a light weight gripper which can be adapted to perform a variety of tasks and which can grasp a variety of objects having the same general size and weight. There is also a need for a highly controllable and accurate gripper which is easily programmable and can be readily interfaced with commercially available light weight robots.